When it comes to world-famous Reelfoot Lake, most fishermen have a pretty clear timeline inside their heads.

During winter and early spring, the lake is known for its fantastic crappie fishing.

When spring pushes toward summer, anglers turn their attention to some of the finest bluegill fishing on earth. And when the summer heat finally takes over, most anglers know that channel catfish can be caught by the cooler full.

But for some reason, many Mid-South fishermen completely overlook the lake's largemouth bass fishing — and this year, that has been a huge mistake.

"The bass fishing on the lake this spring has just been outstanding," said Billy Blakley, manager and head fishing guide at Blue Bank Resort. "In my mind, Reelfoot has always been the most underrated bass fishery in Tennessee — and one of the most underrated in the country. But that's been especially true this year."

Despite some dismal spring weather, anglers have been catching big bass on Reelfoot at an amazing rate. Blakley said he has seen one fish that weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and "tons and tons" of bass in the 7-pound range.

He said it's been taking about 28 pounds to win most tournaments, and one event last month was won with a five-bass limit that topped the 30-pound mark.

Ironically, the nasty weather might be partly responsible for the good fishing.

The bass moved into shallow water about two months ago, preparing for their annual spring spawning run. But the cool weather has kept the water from reaching the optimum spawning temperature of 68 degrees, and the fish have remained easy targets for an extended period of time.

"With the fish up shallow like they are right now, they're never gonna be easier to catch," Blakley said. "Basically, if you can throw out and reel back, you can catch them. You can have fun all day, whether you're a diehard bass fisherman or a once-a-year guy."

Though anglers are often tempted to make bass fishing too complicated with all of the new technology on the market today, Blakley said it's best to keep things simple on Reelfoot right now.

His top bait the past two months has been a chartreuse and white Strike King spinnerbait — a lure that even the most inexperienced angler can easily use.

With the weather finally improving, the water temperature will soon begin rising and the fish will move onto the beds. That'll force anglers to switch to a technique known as "sight fishing," but Blakley expects the big fish to keep rolling in.

"When they're spawning, we just cruise the shallow stumps looking for beds," Blakley said. "With a good pair of sunglasses, you can spot beds from a long way off. Once you find the bed, you can almost always catch the fish."

The biggest bass of the year are often caught during the spawn, because large females bed in plain sight and defend their beds aggressively. On a clear day, anglers can literally pick out the bass they want to catch before they ever make a cast.

"I always use a creature bait — something that I know is gonna make them mad — when I'm sight fishing," Blakley said. "They're not biting it because they're hungry. They're biting it because they're mad and they want that bait out of their bed."

Mike Hayes, owner of Blue Bank Resort, said he wouldn't be at all surprised if the high mark of 8-2 is eclipsed before summer.

"It takes time to grow big bass, and Reelfoot Lake is 201 years old," said Hayes, referring to the massive earthquakes that created the lake back in 1812. "We don't know what kind of bass might be swimming around out there, but this could be the year we find out."